The homeowner, Andrew Berg, told Camillus police that he used the vacuum cleaner about 3:17 p.m. to remove ash from a pellet stove in the kitchen of his 3 Leroy St. home. Berg said he took the bottom of the vacuum out to the yard, left the top of the machine near the stove, then left about 3:30 p.m. to pick up his son.

Berg said his son discovered smoke in the kitchen when they returned about 4:45 p.m.

The fire ignited a dishwasher, a counter top and the wall behind them, said Second Assistant Chief Scott Penoyer of the Camillus Fire Department, which responded along with Fairmount firefighters.

The responders contained the blaze within five minutes, Penoyer said. The house was tightly sealed, starving the fire of oxygen, so there was little fire damage, he said. A plastic hot-water pipe melted, spraying water on the dishwasher and helping to suppress flames, he said.

But the house sustained heavy smoke and heat damage, making it uninhabitable, he said.

The smoke came from the plastic head of the vacuum cleaner, Penoyer said. The unit burned a hole in the floor and fell into the basement, where firefighters found it. Fire officials believe an ember from the pellet stove ignited the vacuum's filter, starting the blaze, he said.